| Technology Tutor |
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The following is not an official record of technological definitions parlayed from a dictionary of credible name. But more importantly, an attempt by the author to ferret out an understanding of the "beast". An attempt to catalyze some understanding of the apparent chaos of growing technology and the mayhem it produces that infiltrates the bowels of progress, often constipating the process of the progress it attempts to give regularity to. It is not written for techies, but more for those masses that, like the author, when utilizing a computer to obtain an answer to a question, often come up with the answer, " What the.......???????????????????"
Preface or Disclaimer: To understand that little nefarious leprechaun that possesses a computer when you turn it on, you need to think of a filing cabinet. Now think of a 3 dimensional filing cabinet. The actual physical computer is the physical cabinet. The method that the files are place to occupy that physical cabinet is the operation system. Now imagine a file cabinet with 1000 separate folders, each with 1000 sheets of paper in each folder. Now imagine that each piece of paper is utilized by one person everyday for a 1000 days. Think any pieces of paper get misfiled, left out on the table, or trashed. Now imagine that each piece of paper is or was necessary to keep the file cabinet organized. Now imagine that you go to the file room one day, open up this cabinet and retrieve a file. Only problem is page #1,#245,#765 have been misfiled. And page one was the table of contents for the whole folder. Getting the picture? To understand the "beast", that "always crashes or freezes or answers our question with another question in a gray pop up box, it is necessary to understand that a operating system like Windows 95 or 98 was developed to manage the file room just described, and all the file cabinets. BUT MULTIPLY THE NUMBER OF FILES TIMES A MILLION!!!
| Server: This is a specialized computer, that acts as a center for a larger number of activities and storage capabilities than a regular personal computer (PC) would provide. Often the center of a network of many individual PCs. | CPU |
| RAID TOLERANT-This means that your computer ain't afaid of RAID insect spray. Actually this is a technology that takes into account the need to maintain the security of a server, by ensuring that the integrity of it's stored data is maintained by 3 or more hard drives, that each have the ability to maintain a reflection of the data that each other maintain. If one hard-drive fails, then the other two take up the responsibilities of the faulty one, and data integrity is maintained, as well as the ability to continue to access it. | |
| HARD DRIVE MEMORY- Equivalent to Long term memory. Analogous to the medical records department. | CPU SPEED (mhz) |
| RAM (Random Access Memory)-This is short term memory work space. Analogous to the space patient's medical record folder takes up on your desk. RAM has an effect on the speed of a computer, because when a computer starts, many programs are developed only to start-up and sit idle, waiting for use. However, even when a program sits idle, it takes up valuable working space, much like a stack of medical records do sitting on your desk. If you have a bigger desk, you have more workspace (RAM). | WINDOWS EXPLORER |
| O/S (Operating System)-This is what Microsoft Windows is. It is a set of protocol instructions that tell a computer how to behave. Linux is also an operating system. It is like the difference between Allopaths and Osteopaths; different operating instructions, but the same intention, to heal. | INTERNET EXPLORER |
| PROTOCOL CONVERTER-A translator. This enables computers of different operating systems to share information, without destroying the content. Analogous to teaching ACLS to persons whom speak different languages. | WINDOWS ADDRESS |
| FILE EXTENSION-This is equivalent to a files last name. Now imagine, each staff member on duty in the Emergency department, each with a last name, and each speaks a different language or dialect. Make sense? No! It does maintain individual identity, but doesn't make for smooth staff interaction. This is how software works. Still following this? So the logical basis that a computer uses to operate, now entertains an inefficient illogical method of saving files from different software programs, with different last names, so that only persons with the same last name can understand the information saved within their files. Much like T.J. Smith R.N., documenting a chart that only M. S. Smith R.N. can understand, but not T. J. MacKrakie R.N.. To further complicate matters, everyone has a name tag that only has their first name visible. This is how software programs such as Microsoft Word saves files. You give the file that you want to save a first name, and the software always puts a hidden last name on it when it sends it to the hard drive memory for storage. In this case it is a First Name.doc. What happens if you don't have the program on your computer that wrote the last name (file extension) .doc? You get one of those enjoyable little questions posed to you from the computer; " Which program would you like to access the program with? ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH? Especially fun when you can't see the last name .doc. Make sense? Ultimately......yes. If you every need to know a files last name, right mouse click with the pointer over that file. When the gray box pops up to say hello, choose the "properties" choice. This will give you the file demographics. | INTERNET ADDRESS |
| ZIP | |
| WYSIWYG | |
| UNZIP | |
| COMPRESS | |
| JAVA | |
| COOKIE | |
| SYSTEM CHIPSET: This is soldered on the motherboard, and acts to link and manage communication between the CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. | |
| BUS or BUSES:The systems Bus in a computer refers to the wires that connect different components in the system. It is the equivalent to a set of roadways in which data travels. Some roads are 6 lane highways, others 2 lane country roads. Bus speeds in today's computers range from 60 MHz to 200 MHz. | |
| CPU Clock Speed: The speed of a computer is referred to in Megahertz. The higher the number the faster the Central Processing Unit can process instructions. This is not the only measure of a computers speed. |
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| Cache: This is the area in a computers Central Process Unit (CPU or brain) that holds commonly used instructions. By holding the commonly used instruction nearby, then the hard-disc doesn't need to be accessed for the same information. Think of the cache much like your top desk drawer, where you keep commonly used items, and maybe even spares. This way, you don't need to dig around in the bottom drawers or even run to the store when you need an item. Cache is important to understand when purchasing a computer, because some computers may have a fast CPU clock speed, referred to in Megahertz, but it may not have a large cache. This makes the overall speed of the computer slower. Such is the case with many of the "free" computers being given away today when you sign up for Internet service. | |
| GIF | INTRANET ADDRESS |
| JPEG | SERVER |
| NETWORK MAP | |
| IP ADDRESS | WAN |
| INTRANET | LAN |
| INTERNET | INTERFACE |
| TCP/IP: The protocol in which message is sent from your computer to another one in Timbuktu. Lets say you type a 2 paragraph email. The message is broken into packets of data. The sending computer attaches instructions on the front and back of each packet describing how it is to be put back together by the computer that the message was sent to. To make things more impressive, remember that data packets are represented by binary code. So you have this huge string of binary code (your message) , with instructions on the front and back that are also in binary code. Now imagine an electronic post office receiving that data instruction attached to the front and back of your message. Now imagine that the post office has 7 floors and your computer is located on the 7th floor. To get to the 7th floor to the computer you sent the message, each floor must be notified. Notification and the instructions to pass the message to the next floor up are contained in the instructions attached to each message packet. Once the message finally reaches the computer it was sent to, the instructions at the end of the message tell that receiving computer to send a thank you notice to the sending computer. This enables the confirmation that the message received was the message sent. Now imagine that the item you initially sent is 5 pages long, and takes 20 data packets, each with a set of instructions attached. It is much like sending a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece over the computer, with each piece having the instructions on how to assemble the puzzle on the other end. If you have ever experience how quick an email is received, it happens sort of fast. | HIPPA |
| GIGO: garbage in garbage out | |
| GUI:(ponounced "gooey" by techies) a partially cooked marshmellow. Actually, a graphical user interface. Windows is a graphic user interface. | |
| HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language | |
| HTTP: Hyper Text Transport Protocol | |
| IPX: Internet Packet Exchange | |
| PDA: Personal Digital Assistant | |
| PDF: Portable document format | |
| Pixel: a picture element | |
| PING: Packet Internet Gopher | |
| UPS: Uninterruptable power supply | |
| USENET: User's network was the early internet. | |
| VXD: Virtual Extended Driver | |
| WWW | |
| FTP | FAT: file allocation table |
| FIREWALL | re-boot |
| ENCRYPTION | de-fragment |
| VIRUS | scan disc |
| RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM) | Binary Code |
| HARD DRIVE MEMORY | BIOS: This is the Basic Input Output System that reside within a computer and tell in how data is accepted and sent from a computer. |
| SERVER RAID TOLERANT MEMORY | COM port: This is equivalent to the gate which a packet of data enters or leaves a computer. Imagine a building with many gated doorways. Each is can be utilized, but some only allow entry of certain persons with the correct credentials. |
| CACHE | DLL |
| SCREEN RESOLUTION | DMA: direct memory access/addressing |
| SOFTWARE BUG-A hug roach that is not afraid of RAID, and eats binary data. However, never to be seen scurrying about. | Domain: No relation to the chateau. This is a piece of real-estate that resides in virtual cyberspace. In naming a website, www.ERCHOICE.com, the domain is ERCHOICE. |
| SCREEN FREEZE- | DOS-disk operating system that is from the antiquated days of 10 years ago. Only dinosaurs utilize this fashion of computer commands. |
| Boot up-done in Texas on a daily basis. But sometimes foreign to those not owning boots. However, when the terrain is in formidable, the ground is just plain hot, or day is just starting, booting up is alot easier that lacing up. That's is why computers decided t boot up when starting their day. Lacing up is just to cumbersome and takes too long. | IRQ: Interupt request |
| ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network | |
| JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group | |
| LCD: Liquid crystal display | |
| Re-boot: a necessary evil when
you get a cockle burr stuck in your boot the first time you put it
on. Computers get the same type of situation after they initially
put their boots on. This results in those annoying "screen
freezes, program crashes, and limps" often exhibited by the
computer that needs to re-boot. Often necessitates a perusal of the
inner boot (Scan Disc cleaning) for that abnormal physical presence that is occupied by the cockle burr. This is equivalent to shaking the boot free of any physical defects. In addition, it becomes necessary to check the inner boot for any residual burr fragments that may be present. ( De-fragment the Disc). |
LPT: Line Printer |
| MEG: Megabyte | |
| MHz: Megahertz | |
| MODEM: Modulator demodulator | |
| MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group | |
| OLE: object linking and embedding |
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